


Second Chance

by quartzen (sandstone78)



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: F/F, Post-Stars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-07-26 13:55:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7576477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandstone78/pseuds/quartzen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What use is there for a Moon Princess during her seemingly immortal mother's reign, and what use for a Soldier of Death and Rebirth now the world is at peace? Chibiusa has an idea, if only Hotaru will agree... A short, fluffy post-Stars piece.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Second Chance

            "You studied here?" Hotaru asks. Silence swallows our footsteps as we walk along the ancient pathway; the moon palace looms over us, white pillars shining faintly. The fountains are still. The sky is black except for a sprinkle of stars and the blue crescent of Earth—the dome that keeps the atmosphere in is transparent.

            "Yeah," I say. "Some of the computers still work." Mama had told me how things were when they first came here, all in ruins with only the central computer in the chamber of prayer working. The spirit of the old Queen Serenity had lived on there, sleeping from the time of Silver Millennium until everyone was reborn and Queen Beryl awoke again.

            Hotaru is silent; I bite my lip. Maybe it was a mistake to come here. Maybe this is a stupid idea. _Diana thought it was a fine idea,_ I tell myself. I wish Diana was here now. I’m not sure how to do this. I look over at Hotaru, and her expression is distant and sad. Uncomfortable, I remember what this place must remind her of.

            "Are you thinking about…?"

            "Yeah." Hotaru doesn't meet my eyes. My chest tightens—I ache for her. It's hard, sometimes, being the only one who _doesn't_ remember that past life. This place holds no particular negative resonance for me beyond the lonely childhood I left behind—I’m not like father, I can't feel the temper of the world beneath me, or see the ghosts of the dead that must haunt it. I don’t remember anything. This is just a beautiful, abandoned world to me.

            "Hotaru." I stop, my heart pounding, in the middle of the grant plaza, moonlight shining on the dark pools around us, and Hotaru stops too, and looks at me, expression veiled. Now is the time, if there’s ever going to be one. "I want to… I mean…" My voice fails me, confronted with the beautiful darkness of her eyes. I swallow dryly, and start again.

            "I want to restore Silver Millennium, here on the moon, and… out in the solar system. I learned here that at the peak of Silver Millennium we had cities out there, we traded with people in other solar systems—like Mau, where Luna and Artemis are from. We could trade with Kinmoku now, and make an alliance with the Three Lights—" Hotaru looks away. "I want you to help me, with Vesta and Juno and Pallas and Ceres, and Diana—"

            "I'm really not the person to ask, Usa," Hotaru says, gently. "It's a beautiful idea, but I…" This is the crucial point, when I hope I can change her mind. I know what she’s thinking, what everyone has told her: she has been born to destroy, not to rebuild.

            "You're Sailor _Saturn_ , aren't you?" I say. "Aren't you the soldier of death _and rebirth?_ " The edge of her mouth turns up.

            "That's a technicality, Usa. It’s not really how it works."

            "Why shouldn't it be? Your power isn't a curse, Hotaru! It can't be meant to be like that."

            Hotaru sighs, crosses her arms, and looks out over the silent kingdom. I knew enough not to push. This wasn't going how I'd planned it—Hotaru was _supposed_ to be overjoyed at the revelation, and finally able to see past the guilt, the worry that gnawed at her that she was reborn to destroy, that she’d be forced to destroy Crystal Tokyo one day, as she’d had to destroy Silver Millennium. I wanted her to fall into my arms and stop being so sad, and so worried about her fate, and all of ours. I wanted to be at her side, and protect her from that fate. But that was naïve—I wasn't a child any more, I _knew_ things were more complicated than that.

            _Sometimes all you can do is offer someone an idea,_ Sailor Pluto had told me, a long, long time ago. _You can show someone you love them by trusting them to make the choice that's right for them._

_But what if they make the_ wrong _choice, Puu?_ She had laughed, a bit sadly I realized now, though I hadn’t then.

            _You're growing up too fast, Small Lady. Just because the choice someone makes isn’t the one you want them to make, it doesn't mean it's wrong. Sometimes all you can do is watch things happen. Give them a little space, and wait, maybe._

            I wonder what the Setsuna of the present would think of that, especially when it came to Hotaru’s happiness.

            I follow Hotaru's gaze, looking at the empty buildings, perfect in their frozen white stone, the still pools, the gentle lights… but I end up, as always, with my eyes on Hotaru. She’s taking deep breaths, tearing up, but she’s trying to hide it, and I want to give her space, but I’m not going to be able to bear it much longer. I have some idea of what she must be seeing—I read about the war between the moon and the earth, the terrible, crazed army led by Queen Beryl, brainwashed by Metallia, and Princess Serenity and King Endymion… I imagine this beautiful place ruined, dyed red with blood, Hotaru faced with the duty to sweep it all away, and I can’t stand it—I reach out to her and take her in my arms, trying to be there for her as she always has for me, and ground her in the present.

            “It’s okay,” I say. “Hotaru…” She tries to pull away, but I stop her. “You don’t have to be the strong one all the time.” She collapses into my arms, and I reach up and stroke her hair. There is no sound here besides our breathing and her quiet sobs. “Serenity and Endymion found their happy ending,” I murmur. “We can too, Hotaru, I believe it. Not just a happy ending—a happy future. We can build that future together, you and me, and the others. The Earth and the Moon can live together in _peace_ this time.”

            “Yes,” Hotaru says. Her voice is stronger this time, and steadier, with the unshaking determination that I love in her. “We can rebuild. This time we’ll make it right.” She stands up and looks around the empty landscape, and I look with her, this time seeing not blood and fire, but laughter and the bustle of people going about their daily lives, the way Silver Millennium must have been in its prime. I imagine Vesta and Juno, Pallas and Ceres, Diana… Hotaru and I. My _family_. Hotaru looks at me, giving me one of her quiet, breathtaking smiles, and I know she sees them as well. “We can make a beautiful future. It seems so clear to me… This _must_ be why I was reborn. A second chance.” I slip my hand into hers, and she looks down and smiles at me. “I was born to be here with you, at your side.”

            The moonlight is gentle over the silent, waiting city as I lean up to kiss her. “I love you, Usa.”


End file.
